Scarlett Johamster's Insistence
by Generation's Incarnation
Summary: Not that I mind people having their own preferences in fictional character pairings in their fandom heads. I just thought Penfold might deserve someone special in his life when I first started writing this story last summer in a notebook after watching the DM Reboot episode, "There's Something About Scarlett" on .
1. Chapter 1

**"** **Scarlett Johamster's Insistence"**

Ugh. There he is again. That idiot secret agent doesn't know when to give up, does he. So much for reading my book and enjoying a nice afternoon in Holland Park today. I can't believe that Danger Mouse has fallen head over heels for me when I was spending one night at my cousin's secret HQ flat in New York. And during her Secret Agents Awards After Party, no less!

Can I throw up now?

If he thinks that I wouldn't be able to see him staring at me from his hiding place in the bushes at 4 o'clock to my right, he's dead wrong. Especially since I placed a microscopic tracker in my pepper spray two nights ago, which is now attached to one of the many air sacs in his lungs after he inhaled the allergen weapon of mine. One look at the screen of my Pear watch, and I can spot his location anywhere on Earth.

I rolled my eyes suddenly as the white dot on my watch's radar was closing in on my blue dot. Great. Now he's trying to sneak up on me again. Yet a puzzling frown returned to my features when I didn't hear the bushes rustle around the edge of the forest area of the park.

I glanced up to where I'd first spotted him staring at me, and to my frozen horror, he had stealthily disappeared. What the fuck-? I glanced hastily back at my watch and almost screamed when I saw his white dot blinking on top of my location. That could only mean-

I jumped off of the bench and stared skittishly at the leaf covered treetops behind and above where I'd been sitting. What was he, a feudal ninja!?

"I know you're up there, you smug, egotistical devil!" I yelled up to the hidden branches about the bench. "Come on out!"

At first, there was no reply. But then my phone went off. I checked the screen, and my blue eyes doubled in size before narrowing themselves into slits of fury.

"YOU HAVE MY NUMBER!?" I shrieked, outrage clearly being heard in my tone. "Oh, I _so_ want my cousin to beat you black and bloody blue than to see your agency suspend your license!"

My phone lit up again, alerting me back to the text message he had just sent me seconds ago before my angry reaction.

 **BondCharming: Why don't you sit back down, my Dear Shirakage Mouse? I'll pop right down next to you if you do. Quite frankly, I'm growing tired of losing to you over our game of chase lately."**

I snorted and spat back at the tree leaves. "I'll _bet_ you're tired of sneezing your head off as I escape from you! You're lucky I haven't reported your sexual predator motives to the police just yet!"

Dozens of pink and red rose petals fluttered down from the leaves, landing around the empty park bench. My jaw dropped at the typical spectacle until the light from my phone flashed for my attention again.

 **BondCharming: Would a sexual predator use rose petals if his intentions for a pretty young woman were to do evil rather than affection? Oh, sweet angel from heaven...I would choose death than to force myself upon your justice deserving figure."**

I hung my head and sighed wearily from his point proven text. I just couldn't find a winning strategy to evade him. My phone lit up again, alerting me to his next text message.

"'Come'," I read it out loud under my breath. "'I'll let you sit down below me first'."

I sighed again. Admitting my defeat. I sunk my head into a pouting expression while trudging over to the bench. As I sat on the left side, a soft but sudden _thwump_ landed gracefully on the right side. I gave an irritable sidelong glare to the love sick, smug faced idiot of London's secret agent, who was staring sappy eyed at me.

"You're annoyingly persistent when it comes to chasing down a sexy lady, aren't you?" I retorted sarcastically.

Danger Mouse smirked at me with a sly confident look in his right [and only] eye. "Well, you're wrong about one particular detail in this matter, Darling..." He then blushed, took my hand into his own and gave it a gentlemanly kiss. "...I have never felt any feelings towards pretty ladies until I saw you that night."

I snorted and rolled my eyes again. "Tch. What man _hasn't_ used that lie to seduce a woman?"

DM's face clouded, his eye widening at my dissing remark. "What? Do you honestly believe that I am lying to you, Professor Shirakage Mouse?"

I put on my Dare Game face and laughed. "That depends. Have you slept with another woman whose animal species differs from our own?"

DM's face shifted from one shade of red to another before he spluttered out. "M-Madam! We-We're in a kid's show! S-Surely you must have some sense of understanding of what to censor out in the script!"

I smirked diabolically at him. "Well, that's where the difference between me and you with the rest of your universe stands out, Mr. White Wonder: I don't play by your stupid broken 4th Wall code of conduct, nor shut my dirty, New York mouth."

He gasped in disbelief from my statement. "Oh, Dear, oh Dear! What spawn of the devil has possessed your heart and gorgeous vessel!?"

I groaned in frustration over his melodramatic shock. "For crying out loud! What's the point of you being a parody of James Bond without the guns, dead men, liquor, and bed sheet covered naked women kissing said you?"

Danger Mouse growled his gritting teeth in equal frustration. "Oooohh! You naughty, realistic seeking vixen! I never imagined that your spirit would be this willful and wild, Shirakage!" Then he suddenly blinked as if something was just brought to his attention.

"Just a minute..." he said before going silent for a few moments, then frowned at me with a disapproving stare. "The narrator said he had never liked you, because you have been using your colorful language to tune him out of your hearing range."

I shrugged my shoulders with shameless ignorance. "He's partially responsible for giving your location away whenever you secretly stalk me, Nezu-San. He's with you and your world's citizens all the time!"

DM crossed his arms against his chest. "That's his job! My series contract includes him. He must come with this handsome agent's cheeky wink packaging." He winked at me like an overconfident stud.

I pursed my lip in a sinful, smug like smirk. "So, you'll make him narrate if I ever allow you to make love to me?"

He yelped girlishly. "Auugghh! Quick! Somebody call an exorcist! My sweetheart's been possessed by the Spawn of Satan!"

I burst out laughing over his hilarious reaction, "Geez, DM. Take a joke, will ya? Well, take a joke that doesn't match your silly word play with puns."

DM groaned wearily. "Most...difficult lass to try and woo...Ever!"

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Don't ask me how an average but brilliant boffin and civilian like me managed to become good friends with the famous actress, Scarlett Johamster. Maybe because I was helping her out one time when a bunch of annoying boys were harassing her. I kicked their asses and they ran with whatever breed of tails they had between their legs.

When I didn't bask in the moment of heroism, Scarlett asked me for my name and said that I was like an emo, silent DM without a cheeky smile.

Long story short, we Video Chat each other from time to time now. One of our most recent video chats was three days ago. Scarlett called and told me about her shaky dating relationship with DM's best friend, Penfold.

First she broke up with him when all of their dates had been going awry, as other male villains wanted to fight over her. But after defeating an evil twin of Penfold—who had crossed over from the infamous Twistyverse—with DM and Penfold, she turned into an adventurous and danger loving version of Danger Mouse herself.

Because of that, Penfold had lost interest in her. However, Scarlett couldn't get over this second break up with him. And this was my own personal opinion, not a committed 'take it to heart' kind of advice.

"Girl," I said calmly. "Sometimes you would have to sacrifice a bit of yourself to make someone who is most precious to you happy, if you want to become their chosen romantic partner. Honestly, I was hoping that Penfold had made a great choice hooking up with you. But happy scenarios in people's heads don't always go as planned in reality.

"To be fair, I might have more things in common with Penfold than I have with Danger Mouse. For example, I'm afraid of heights, falling through the air, and roller coasters. Danger Mouse would dive right into that shit. Penfold is a great friend to me. But he can never be anything more than that. And the best respect that I can give him is to be happy with whoever else he'd choose to spend his life with.

"What I'm trying to say is...that the most flexible of dating couples could work out each other's differences in their likes and dislikes, and maybe come up with a compromising strategy where they can do things happily together."

Scarlett pondered over my speech quietly for a moment. Then, she said she'll consider my words and get back to me if anything happened later on.

The next day, she FaceTimed me again with a more happier smile on her face.

"I owe you so much, Shirakage," she beamed through my Mac laptop. "I talked to Penfold earlier this afternoon. And we agreed to see where our relationship should go at the moment. I know you insisted that you're not a couple's counselor. But I can't help but thank you again!"

I smiled as well when I heard the positive news in her dating progress with Penfold. "That's great. I wish you two the best in finding the perfect resolve of enjoying each other's company."

"Thanks!" she giggled. "And who knows? If we ever get married, we'll come up with our own Christmas celebration traditions and other fun hobbies that'll be beyond our first dating experiments."

"I'm looking forward to the future already," I added pleasantly.

"Hey, I've been meaning to ask you something for a while now. But I couldn't bring it up before because of my feelings for Penfold."

I blinked at her change in topic and wondering expression. "What is it, Scarlett?"

"I'm very happy that you ship me and Penfold as an item. But, Shirakage, why are you always pushing Danger Mouse away whenever he pursues you time and time again? I think that you mean something to him, but what does _he_ mean to you?"

Her innocent girl talk question had me at a loss for words. "Scarlett," I started hesitantly. "You're not secretly shipping me and Danger Mouse being a great couple too, are you?"

She grinned sheepishly. "Well...I'm not the only one who's talking about it. Penfold couldn't stop giggling after we patched up."

"Scarlett!" I exclaimed with hot cheeks. "The nezumi's a stalker and an idiot who doesn't know when to give up when the lady's same answer is 'NO!'! It's unlikely that I'll even consider him to be my chosen mate."

"But he really likes you, Shirakage," she argued reasonably. "Don't you think you should be more considerate towards his feelings? Even Penfold believes that you keep stomping on his heart hard because he once caught DM crying in his room."

"You honestly think I'm rejecting his so called 'love struck heart' that much?" I asked skeptically.

"Please, Girl," Scarlett begged sweetly. "Just take a bit of your time to talk to him. After all, he did fancied that one time when you happened to witness him using Merlin's magic staff to destroy an alien plant eating monster, which came to our planet to devour our vegetation sources dry. He spotted you watching him, and he zapped the monster into a rain of beautiful flowers. Because you were his audience, Shirakage, he scooped up a bunch of the falling flowers and presented them to you as a gift of impression over his heroic stunt."

I pursed my lip and averted my gaze as I remembered that day too.

〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️

The screams of the people outside my open balcony window signaled the start of another annoying day of calamity in London again. I sighed wearily; my weekend activity of writing messages in my own personal code was now disturbed as the narrator added his presence into my newly formed headache.

I grumbled unintelligible curses under my breath and dragged my irritable butt to see what craziness was occurring this time.

Huh. A gruesome giant, roaring bipedal stegosaurus like space alien, was coming towards Holland Park. According to the news report on my T.V., the monster had landed in Wilstone Green this afternoon and ate all of the plant life in the countryside in five minutes flat.

"Should I microwave the popcorn to watch and see if a man might accidentally get eaten if his attire includes a corsage?" I joked to myself with a Garfield like smirk on my face.

" _Oh, Honestly, Shirakage Mouse! The people of London are not some throw away characters for you to enjoy, as if they were the poor, helpless victims in a B-rated monster film."_

I rolled my blue eyes and began to tune out the interfering narrator by singing.

"Ah ah ah ah-h (ah ah ah ah-h)

Can't watch this and I can't watch that

But they can't stop me from playing

Mama's gone bananas and Daddy's gone coco

Cause I don't hear what they're saying

"They complain, I go insane

Cause I love playing Pokemon

"All I hear everyday; blah, blah, blah (blah, blah, blah)

All I hear everyday; blah, blah, blah (blah, blah, blah)

Blah, blah, blah"

" _Oh, for Goodness sake! What on Earth is a 'Pokemon', anyway!?"_ Groaned the frustrated narrator.

"A to Z, divide, subtract

This world is driving me crazy:

Teacher, teacher, get off my back!

Game Boy's not making me lazy

And I can't wait til three, then I'll be free

And back playing Pokemon

"All I hear everyday; blah, blah, blah (blah, blah, blah)

All I hear everyday; blah, blah, blah (blah, blah, blah)

Blah, blah, blah

"Don't you know you talk too much?

Don't you know you're out of touch?

Gotta win, no room to fall

Means I've gotta catch them all

"Can't you see the game is me?

You are you, so let me be

Cause I don't care who you are;

Don't you take away my cards!

"Ah~Ah~Ah~

"All I hear everyday; blah, blah, blah (blah, blah, blah)

All I hear everyday; blah, blah, blah (blah, blah, blah)

Blah, blah, blah

"Don't you know you talk too much?

Tellin' me I'm out of touch

Where to go, what to do

I should be the one to choose

Can't you see that I am me

You are you, so let me be

Don't appreciate my honesty

"Blah, blah, blah"

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

After singing that old Pokemon song that I remembered from my real world, I yawned in a wide, melodramatic way and scratched my neck, like the disobedient Charizard of Ash Ketchum, while ignoring the chaos going down outside in the streets.

The narrator had given up on speaking to me, since I was behaving obnoxiously difficult again. I then returned to my secret coded messaging hobby, but I quickly lost interest in it. So I played my favorite video games on my portable Nintendo console.

When I heard a plane engine humming nearby my area, and the alien monster's roar started to sound more like short grunts, I hooked my earphones into my Nintendo console in an attempt to block out the madness in DM's world.

You know what? Scratch playing Nintendo. I think I hear the plant eating monster alien tickling DM using feathery, fern shaped vines.

I microwaved some popcorn and went out towards my balcony to see him fight. Woah. The stegosaurus was like the size of a building. It had stopped feasting on all of the grass and leaves, and started to examine Nezu-chan with the vines that wiggled out of the giant flower on its back.

"AHAHAHAHAHAH...S-Stop it!" He laughed as one of the vines held the captive mouse around his waist, while another prodded his sensitive spots on his body. Eventually, a serious scowl formed on his face. He began fighting back at the beast using his Mouse Fu skills, as I watched from afar.

I'll never understand how he can whoop an alien dinosaur's ass that's 10 times his size. And I pray I'll never _want_ to understand it.

The Mark IV car was hovering high above the battle. I saw Penfold call out to his senpai, and threw down a staff sized stick to the panting white mouse. As DM caught the staff, his eye fell on me. I flinched as my presence caught his attention, and a flirty grin grew on his face. He then turned back to the monster and used the glowing staff on it.

The monster was surrounded by the staff's magical energy, and it exploded into a rain of beautiful Sakura blossoms...the "lawn and field" type Sakura blossoms called, "Shibazakura".

While the people of London were enjoying the spectacle of DM's victory, the cocky stud fired up his rocket boots and started catching dozens of the pretty pink flowers that were still fluttering in the air. With a pretty bouquet in one hand and that magic staff in the other, the determined mouse began to fly towards my balcony.

I backed away and pressed myself against the patio glass door. Nezu-chan hovered himself over the banister, retracted his boots and landed gracefully on his feet.

"Ah, Shirakage Mouse," he sighed pleasantly at me with that egotistical suave tone of his. "We meet again, my elusive Love. You said you never wanted to see me save the world. But it seems that you couldn't stay away from my heroics, after all." He held out the bouquet to me. "I know full well you fancy Lawn Cherry Blossoms."

My face was blushing like crazy as my lips were sealed up in astonishment. But then my blue eyes fell on a large scrape on his right shoulder. Did that stegosaurus alien monster cut him with thorns from its vines?

"You have a bad injury on your shoulder," I noted to him while taking a couple of steps towards the red cut. It also had ripped through his white shirt.

"What, this small minor scrape?" He gestured nonchalantly. "Don't be so trifled over it, Shirakage. It won't kill me, and it will heal quickly."

But my stubbornness persisted. "Then let me rephrase myself, Danger Mouse: If you'll allow me to clean your wound in my bathroom, I'll accept your lovely bouquet to me and place them in a water filled vase, got it?"

He smirked with a mixture of dashing and conceit. "Agreed, my darling."

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

I was wrong to propose that trade to him. My white mouse cheeks could not have blushed any hotter, after seeing DM's well toned abs under his tight ass, skinny white shirt of his.

I know that many anime fan girls from my real human world would joke about themselves, squealing with excitement and gush a fountain of blood from their noses to death, as they comment to online fan art pictures of hot anime male characters. But I'd never imagine Danger Mouse looking just as hot as them underneath his signature secret agent getup.

He suddenly noticed my petrified expression from his seat on the closed toilet lid, and looked concerned. "My Dear Shirakage. Why do you look so flustered?"

All that came out of my stifled, tight lipped mouth were incoherent spluttering noises of shock with overwhelming excitement and forbidden arousal of sexual appeal.

Then his eye widened largely as he realized my strangled social language. "Hang on. Am I to understand that you've never seen a shirtless man before?"

'" _Man" may not be the correct word to use in this reality before a reincarnated human soul, Nezu-chan. You're all animals, remember?'_ I thought to myself in my head...a scenario in which I wished to tell that statement to him.

"Forgive me," I squeaked shyly. "I've just never pictured you to look so well toned and attractive under your uniform." I mentally slapped myself as I let the impulsive, hidden fan girl spill out the wrong words from my mouth.

Great. It's too late to take back my mistake. Calling Danger Mouse hot has boosted his ego to the point where his swelling head is grinning conceitedly again.

"So I _am_ sexy to you, Shirakage Mouse," he mused smugly. "Perhaps you _do_ have a weakness for me somewhere in your cold, stone heart after all." He got up from the closed toilet seat, walked towards me and stared into my flustered eyes.

"Is it too late for me to ask you out for dinner this time?" He teased silkily with seduction laced in his tone.

Oh, God. His face was so close to mine, that he could just kiss me. Not wishing to have my cheeks turn fire engine red, I pinched the wound on his shoulder.

"ARRRRRGGHHH!" He yelled out in pain, screaming as if I just broken his leg bone.

I sighed and guided the Duke of Wimpy Injuries back to his seat on the loo's lid. "Just behave yourself, so I could put some ointment on that cut. If it had been any deeper, you would have required immediate treatment to stitch up a possible case of heavy bleeding."

DM pouted childishly as I turned my attention to the task at hand. As I slid my ointment covered fingertip against the scrape on his shoulder, the tube's cap slipped out of my occupied hand's grip. My reflexes were quick enough to catch it in time. But in the process of retrieving it successfully, my fingers brushed the side of DM's upper body.

He stifled back what sounded like high pitched giggles, and flinched slightly from my brief contact to his fur and skin.

My guard and hardened expression vanished as I looked up to see my patient smothering a goofy smile under his snout. "Sorry. You're very ticklish, aren't you?"

DM blushed silently while I continued to patch up his wound. Once I completed bandaged his shoulder in a tight field dressing gauze, I smiled at my piece of work. "There. That should hold you for a few days. Hopefully, the doctors at your agency's HQ will give you a better diagnostic on how you can let that bad scrape heal faster."

I then stood up and left him in the bathroom to go put the beautiful bouquet of Shibazakura in a water filled vase from the kitchen. After laying the vase filled flowers on the coffee table in my sitting room, my eyes suddenly fell upon the mystical staff of Merlin. Nezu-chan had originally left it on my couch earlier when I needed to give him first aid.

Curiosity got the better of me, leading me to pick up the wooden staff and examine it. I smiled nostalgically when my blue eyes gazed upon the glass sphere at the tip of the magical scepter. Back in my past human life's real world, many Spellcaster type Duel Monsters in the card playing manga/anime series, Yu-Gi-Oh!, wielded staffs just like this one...and the Spellcaster monsters' species resembled more like long eared elves and tall or short humans.

My mind suddenly zoned into another one of my daydream trances again, while I was still holding the staff in my hands. The Merlin of DM's world must have known a ton of spells, that may not be so different from the popular fandom novel series of Harry Potter. But what else could Merlin's magical staff be capable of other than just Transfiguration, Levitation, Imprisonment, and making things magically appear on command?

The more I thought about what I wanted to use it for, the staff's magical aura began to glow brighter. Then, as if my entire consciousness entered a state of focused meditation, the trance in my head grew stronger.

'Danger Mouse loves me... But he doesn't know how to win my heart. What spell can this staff do to hex him with the quality trait, which I find the most seducing to my lust and fanciful passion?'

"SHIRAKAGE, WHAT ARE YOU DOING!? STOP, BEFORE-"

DM's alarmed voice brought me out of my deep trance. But I was too slow to realize my current predicament. An energy blast shot out from the tip of Merlin's staff, and made a direct hit upon Nezu-chan. There was no inertia like force to knock the fully dressed agent against my flat's wall. But his face froze into a grimacing expression, as the magical energy surrounded his body. When the aura finally dissipated, DM examined himself, looking confused as to why nothing had happened to him yet.

I blinked in stunned confusion as well. How could he still be alright? Maybe my inexperience in using magical items only released an ineffective dud of energy...?

Suddenly Danger Mouse snapped his head to the side and released two held back sneezes. " _ **Huh'TSHOO! TSHOO!"**_ Within those two sneezes, his nose and mouth expelled a small cloud of sparkling dust. From the first sneeze, the color of the dust was gold. But his second sneeze released a different color of sparkling dust...a battery charged blue like color.

"Bless you," I said as he sniffed. I put Merlin's staff on the coffee table and went up to him. "Are you alright, Nezu-kun?" I asked. "I'm so sorry-"

However, his breathing turned erratic again, and his skinny but concealed well built chest was rising and falling quicker every second. His eyes glazed over and his jaw hung open as hitches escaped. His head started tipping back, his eye fluttered until it squeezed shut, and colorful sparkling dust shot out from his set of explosive sneezes.

" _ **Hhh...TSHOOO!"**_ Pink dust. " _ **Ah'TSSSHOOO!"**_ Red dust. " _ **Ahh...huhhh...Huh'TSHHOOO!"**_ Purple dust.

I stared at the spectacle in a dumbfounded state of speechlessness. Then I burst out laughing. "HAA~HAHAHAHA~~! Oh my God! I have no idea of how I just hexed you like this, but it's hysterical! OMG!"

DM's nostrils were still twitching and flaring by the time he sniffled and caught a breath. Unfortunately, it didn't last long. "Sh-Shira _ **hhhuuhh'TSHOOO! TSHOOO! Ah'TSHOOO! Ah...hhh...TSSHHOOOO!"**_ With each of his four sneezes, a mixture of orange, lemon yellow, lime green, and sky blue colored sparkling dust floated in the air around his wet snout and mouth. "Snf. Ugh."

I smirked mischievously at his misery. "It's like being in a fairytale story. And the prince is conflicted with a curse, where his sparkling sneezes attract the attention of little girls who wish to play Tea Parties and Dress Up Parties with him. Eheheheheheh~~!" I was so milking in this cool agent's nightmare.

The poor White Wonder tried to quell the unbearable feather storm in his nose. "Shirakage...!" He gasped while rubbing his inflamed nostrils harshly. "Snf. This is serious!" The hitching in his breath returned, and he lost the ability to continue talking before he exploded into another fit of dust expelling sneezes.

" _ **Huu'TSHOOO!"**_ Fuchsia primrose purple. " _ **TSHHOOO!"**_ Cerulean blue. " _ **TSHHOOO!"**_ Vermillion. " _ **Heh...heh-heahhh'TSHHOOO!"**_ And finally, black pepper mist.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

" _K'tchu! Hih_ ' _ **tchu!**_ _N_ ' _ **ktch!"**_ Danger Mouse sneezed another 3 times an hour later...with no colorful sparkling dust expelling from his mouth.

Penfold had flew the Mark IV towards my flat's balcony and discovered what had happened. Realizing that Merlin was the only person to correct my unknown hex-like spell upon DM, he flew off to fetch Merlin from his slumbering tomb and brought him back here.

As a de-spelled Nezu-chan blew his moist nose and groaned tiredly on my couch, Merlin frowned at me with a mildly cross glare on his face while Penfold stood next to him.

"Young Madam," he began sternly. "Despite the fact that you're a surly ignorant Muggle born mouse, you certainly have shocked me, once I learned that you were able to wield my staff and perform magic at all.

"Still, I sense that you don't understand on what you've cast upon your boyfriend, do you."

I deadpanned at the anthropomorphic goat wizard, wishing to retort that Danger Mouse wasn't my boyfriend. But instead, I shook my head at him. "Not a clue, Magister Merlin-Sama."

The staff suddenly glowed in Merlin's hands. But only _he_ seemed unsurprised by the phenomenon. His eyes narrowed as the aura around the staff dissipated.

"Hmm. I've heard of many who've been able to wield my staff while I've been sleeping. But it is extremely rare to witness anyone who can unlock a hidden ability to link their heart with its magic. If that special individual possesses the power to meditate deeply in their own thoughts, the staff can grant their most personal desires, depending upon the dilemma of what they're pondering about."

I nearly began to panic in front of the three of them until he continued.

"Normally, I'd choose to tattle on anyone who'd either have been born with magic in their blood, or have been practicing it for a while. Fortunately for you, Ms. Shirakage Mouse, the staff has informed me to keep its share of your desired spell's secret to yourself. And since it has regarded you to be unique for a Mortal Muggle to connect with its magic, I've decided to honor my staff's request and zip my lip about the spell to your friends here."

I sighed with relief and bowed politely to him. "That's great. I give you and the Staff my sincere gratitude."

〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️

The flashback ended swiftly from my head as I returned to the Present Day and my video chat with Scarlett. But I still refused to reconsider her opinionated Point of View to the current question she'd asked me before Said Long Flashback.

"And _that_ day's events is supposed to help me change my mind about Nezu-Chan, Scarlett?" I asked her skeptically.

The hamster actress half sheepishly shrugged her shoulders at me. "Well, if you don't move quickly, your foster cousin might beat you to the punch in taking a shot at Danger Mouse instead."

I scowled to the side as the thought of Nezu-Chan and Jeopardy becoming a couple tightened my chest slightly. "Oddly, Girlfriend...That _does_ bother me more than a bit."


	2. Bonus Alternate Ending

**A/N: This is an alternative ending to my DM fanfiction story "Scarlett Johamster's Insistence". I wrote an extensive version of the flashback in my notebook, but decided not to add it to the original final posted draft because it would take Shirakage Mouse out of her Tsundere character feelings for Danger Mouse.**

 **I guess fetish habits really do die hard for me.**

" **Alternate Ending To Scarlett Johamster's Insistence**

" _K'tchu! Hih_ ' _ **tchu!**_ _N_ ' _ **ktch!"**_ Danger Mouse sneezed another 3 times an hour later...with no colorful sparkling dust expelling from his mouth.

Penfold had flew the Mark IV towards my flat's balcony and discovered what had happened. Realizing that Merlin was the only person to correct my unknown hex-like spell upon DM, he flew off to fetch Merlin from his slumbering tomb and brought him back here.

As a de-spelled Nezu-chan blew his moist nose and groaned tiredly on my couch, Merlin frowned at me with a mildly cross glare on his face while Penfold stood next to him.

"Young Madam," he began sternly. "Despite the fact that you're a surly ignorant Muggle born mouse, you certainly have shocked me, once I learned that you were able to wield my staff and perform magic at all.

"Still, I sense that you don't understand on what you've cast upon your boyfriend, do you."

I deadpanned at the anthropomorphic goat wizard, wishing to retort that Danger Mouse wasn't my boyfriend. But instead, I shook my head at him. "Not a clue, Magister Merlin-Sama."

The staff suddenly glowed in Merlin's hands. But only _he_ seemed unsurprised by the phenomenon. His eyes narrowed as the aura around the staff dissipated.

"Hmm. I've heard of many who've been able to wield my staff while I've been sleeping. But it is extremely rare to witness anyone who can unlock a hidden ability to link their heart with its magic. If that special individual possesses the power to meditate deeply in their own thoughts, the staff can grant their most personal desires, depending upon the dilemma of what they're pondering about."

I nearly began to panic in front of the three of them until he continued.

"Normally, I'd choose to tattle on anyone who'd either have been born with magic in their blood, or have been practicing it for a while. Fortunately for you, Ms. Shirakage Mouse, the staff has informed me to keep its share of your desired spell's secret to yourself. And since it has regarded you to be unique for a Mortal Muggle to connect with its magic, I've decided to honor my staff's request and zip my lip about the spell to your friends here."

I sighed with relief and bowed politely to him. "That's great. I give you and the Staff my sincere gratitude."

Meanwhile, Danger Mouse drew in a sharp, shallow breath before exhaling shakily. He repeated it again with careful concentration. "Ubm, BMerlindn," he said, while fighting to keep his voice level and clear. "BMerlin," he began again. "Why... _Heh_... _iii_ -s bmy dnose still so... _Ah_...ticklish and... _Huh_...i-irritated?"

I blushed hotly as I watched him scrub desperately at his red, stuffy nose. His shaky involuntary gasps were drawing me to sit next to him on the couch.

Merlin glanced to the side as he answered DM. "De-spelling Shirakage's hex can leave a target with a temporary side effect from your previous affliction. For the next half hour or so, you'll be experiencing a nasty allergic reaction to dust until it wears off."

"Nonsense!" Nezu-Chan disagreed firmly, despite the warning signs around his twitching snout. "I do no _uuuh...nooooh-hhoaaat...! Heh-hii...!_ I do not- _heHIKKKTTTCXHHHOOO!"_ DM doubled over with a powerful sneeze.

"Bless you," we said to him in unison, as he straightened up and blinked away an allergic tear in his eye. Nezu-chan sniffled miserably before his dark eyebrow creased again and his nose twitched madly.

" _Snff...sniff...sniff...Hih-hih! Ahh...Ahhh! HrrrrT'CHOOOO!"_

"Nezu-chan," I gulped while expressing a pang of guilt. "I'm so sorry. It's my fault for not dusting my flat very often. If I'd known that this would've happened, I..."

" _N'ktch'u!"_ DM pinched his large nose and ducked forward to suppress the insistent sneeze in his paws. When he sniffed again, his face contorted into a painful grimace. "Shira-Sadn, _snff_...bmy head aches," he groaned.

I allowed him to lean his head on my shoulder before turning to Penfold and Merlin. "I thank you both. And Penfold, do you mind if I look after Danger Mouse in my flat for the rest of the day? His sinuses need to be monitored carefully, and he's in no condition to be taking on new missions."

"Of course, Prof. Shirakage," Penfold chirped while Merlin nodded in agreement. "I'll phone the Colonel and tell him that the Chief's currently recovering from an unfortunate Sneeze Spell from the Staff. And I'll escort Merlin back to his tomb."

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

" _Heh-eisSCHew! Heh-ISSCHHiew! Heh...hih...Hiih! EeeSSHH! Heh-erSSCHew!"_

Danger Mouse sneezed on and off on my couch while I dusted around the sitting room. He insisted that I cleaned my flat, regardless of the counter spell's temporary side effect giving him horrible allergies. I blushed slightly, my back facing the sniffling mouse. Every time I heard his frequent small hitches coming from the other side of the room, it felt like I was using my feather duster to torture his nose.

" _HEH-iiSCHH! EaaSCHHoo!"_

I turned around to see my guest sniffing once, long and hard.

"Nezu," I asked him kindly. "Are you alright?"

"Y-Yes. I'bm just a little snee... _hehhh...HempTSCHhuh!"_ He caught the sneeze on his wrist before giving me a soft smile. " _Snf._ Sneezy."

I giggled out of the blue at his timid smile, which led him to grin bashfully. "We've still got another 10 minutes before the counter spell wears off," I informed him shyly. "Hopefully, you'll get the sweet relief that you deserve so badly."

He nodded then sniffed. "Hopefu _...hih! Ah...hehktSHHHew! Heh-TssCHEW!"_

"Bless you," I said as I approached the jaw slacking agent. "Oh, DM. Your eye looks terrible. You poor..."

" _HEITCH! Heh-RRSSSSHH'ah!"_ He sneezed horribly to the side of me and sniffed again. " _Snf._ Excuse BMe."

"Gesundheit," I blessed him once more. I then stayed quiet as he blew his nose hard; he was lying down on my couch, a litter of crumpled tissues were scattered around his blanket that covered his legs and lower body.

I shook my head at the agent's mess and collected the used tissues from the area. Unfortunately, the feather duster slipped from my apron's strap and landed with a soft _thump_ on DM's lap. To make matters worse, the impact from the duster's landing created a large cloud of freshly collected dust and feather particles around DM's chest.

I grimaced as the cloud rose up towards his already irritant snout. " _Hihh...heh..."_ Danger Mouse's nose flared as his jaw slacked again. Immediately, his face scrunched up and he hastily sneezed into his hands. " _EiSCHH! EiSSCHew! HaiSSCHHiew!"_ His breath began hitching again. " _Hih! Heh...heh...hiiihhh! NktSHH! TssCHEW!"_

I quickly grabbed his arm and helped him off the couch once he caught his breath. "Come on. I have antihistamines in my loo's cabinet. The dust is killing you."

I glanced back at my friend and noticed his red watery eye was beginning to swell. As he stumbled behind me in the hallway, Danger Mouse sneezed in fits of three or four with increasing desperation. I guided him to my bathroom's sink and took a seat on the rim of my bathtub. I watched Nezu-Chan lean into the sink and sneezed a triple until his fits began having small moments of pause.

I allowed him to scrub at his irritated red hued nose first before applying both a pill and a nasal spray version of antihistamine. We waited several long moments for his groans to quiet down, then gazed at one another. Our eye contact didn't break, even as I handed him a several fresh tissues into his paws.

Finally, DM broke the silence first. "Thank you fo- _hihh! HehktSHHHew!"_ Nezu-chan brought the tissues to his nose to smother the sudden sneeze before he lowered them to continue. " _Snf._ Pulling me out of there. My throat feels so sore that I don't believe I'll be able to squeal for a while."

I twinkled a kind, lopsided smile at him. "You know, Nezu-kun," I began, shimmering my sapphire orbs towards his reddening face. "I get a bit frisky when I hear a handsome guy sneeze. Do you still wish to rest on the couch for the night?" I asked, my small snout's nose rubbed agains the tip of his own, inducing another impending allergy fit in his blooming nostrils.

DM pulled his face slightly away from my touch as he spoke with a slacking jaw. "I'm actually kind of worn ou... _hehhh! EiSCHH! Ahh...eekTSCHhkh!"_

"Odaijini," I blessed him in Japanese. "The counter spell is down to its last 5 minutes in your nose. But I'd prefer you to spend those last 5 minutes with me than to suffer alone on the couch."

Nezu-kun grinned goofily. "You're a'd adngel," he sniffled half seriously.

I swished my tail in front of his face, swiping away a bit of mucus from his nostrils. "I'm something even better," I giggled sweetly. "I'm your girlfriend."

"Sabme thi'g."

"Nezu, shush. Come to bed with me?"

I took his hand and led him to my bedroom. I glanced back at him to see him grind his exhausted nose against the heal of his paws.

"You know, Shira-Sadn, I will still be doi'g this for _ahh...ah'tsch! ..._ f-for a while yet."

I leaned in and placed a light peck on the tip of his nose, causing it to twitch dangerously.

"I don't mind."

" _HhrrRRSSSSHH!"_

"Bless you, Love."


End file.
